Washing-machine.



e. THOMAS. WASHING cums. (Application filed 25, 1 902.)

Patented July 29, I902.

(No Model.)

&

INVENTOI? a0ly3 5r 1 A TTOHNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC GEORGE THOMAS, OF GOTHENBURG, NEBRASKA.

WASHINGFMACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,976, dated July 29, 1902.

Application filed March'25, 1902'. Serial No. 99,891. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE THOMAS, a citi-i zen of the United States, residing at Gothenburg, in the county of Dawson and State Qfi Nebraska, have invented certain new and use-.

ful Improvements in l/vashing Machines, of

which the following is af'ull,cle ar, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in washing-machines of that class which employ a swinging receptacle; and the objects that I have in View are to provide an improved: rubbing-surface adapted to cooperate with aj rubber for the easy'and thorough cleansing of fabrics of different kinds, to allow the rubhing-surface to be easily removed, to provide a a rubber-operating means which can be actuated with small exertion by the attendant, and to allow of the ready introduction and removal of the clothes. 1

With these ends in view the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will beherein'after described,.

and defined by the claims. I

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a side elevation of a-washi'ng machine embodying my improvements. Fig. i 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevationot the ceptacle, which is provided with a metallic bottom 6, having the inclined portions 6 extending upwardly to the end walls 7, one of said end walls being provided with a transverse top strip 8, to whichis attached a cover 9 by means of the hinges 10. This cover is adapted to be closed over the suds-box and to rest upon the end walls 7, and when the cover is raised a suitable wringer may be attached to said end wall 7 for the purpose of expressing the water from the fabrics when they are removed from the receptacle. The hinged cover 9 is provided with slots 11, through which pass the upright parallel bars Fig. etis an inverted- 12 12 of the reciprocatory rubber, the latter having the side pieces 13 13, which are united together by the cross-bars 14 and which carry the rollers 15 16. The rollers 15 are arranged at the end portions of the side bars '13, forming the rubber-frame, whereas the other roller 16 is somewhat shorter and is disposed between the lower ends ofthe bars 1212; (See Fig. 4.) The rollers 15 16 arelooselylmounted in the rubber-frame so as to turn freely on their axes, and these rollers are provided with longitudinal corrugations or ribs '17. The rollers are arranged transverselyjin the suds-box, and the ribs or corrugations of said rollers are disposed across the suds-box and at right angles to the ri-bsor corrugations in the rubbi'ngboards of said suds-box, to be hereinafter described. The swinging receptrunnions 20, one of Whichis shown in Fig. 1, and these trunnions are loosely mounted in suitable bearing openings,'which are provided in the upright'posts 21, two ofwhich are employed, although only one shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings; The'postsfare provided with enlargedfeet 22, and they are united together by tie-bars 23, the said posts and the tie-bars forming a suitable support ing-frame.

The suds-box is pivotally supported inthe supporting-frame to rock or turn on a horizontal axis, and the posts are provided at their upper ends with slotted bearings 24, which accommodate the fulcrum-shaft 25 of the swinging rubber, whereby the suds-box and the rubber are individually mounted in the supporting-frame. The shaft 25 is preferably in the form of a tube, which passes through the arms of the rubber-frame and is disposed above the slotted cover 9 of the sudsbox.

26 designates a pivotal shaft which is sup ported in suitable bearings 27, that are provided on one of the end walls 7 of the sudsbox, and on the end port-ions of this pivotal shaft are loosely fitted the inclined links 28, the latter being disposed on opposite sides of the suds-box and extending inwardly and upwardly to a connecting rod or tube 29, which is attached to the upper end portions of the rubber-arms 12 12.

Within the suds-box is provided a rubbingboard 30, arranged to rest on the bottom 6, and on opposite sides of this bottom board 30 are disposed the inclined boards 31, the latter engaging with the end portions of the bottom board 30 and resting against the inclined portions 6 of the bottom. One inclined board abuts against a fixed strip 32, which is secured to the end wall 7, and the other inclined board is engaged with a removable strip 33, which is held in place by means of the pivoted keepers 3a. When the cover 9 is raised, these pivoted keepers 3% may be turned away from the holding-bar 33, thus permitting the latter to be detached and the boards 30 31 to be removed from the sudsbox, whereby the latter maybe cleansed from accumulations of dirt. The boards 30 31 are provided with ribs or corrugations 35, which extend longitudinally of the suds box, as shown by Figs. 2 and 3, and the corrugations of the rubbing-boards thus lie at right angles to thecorrugations in the revoluble rolls of the swinging rubber, whereby the rubber is adapted to traverse the rubbing-boards and to roll thereover, so as to squeeze the fabrics and extract the dirt therefrom.

In operation the cover 9 is raised and the rubber partly withdrawn from the suds-box, thus opening the latter for the operator to easily place the clothes and soapy water in the receptacle, after which the cover is lowered and the rubber is brought into position fOroperation. It is evident that the rubber may be raised .any suitable distance, accord- .ing to the quantity of clothes which may be contained in the suds-box, and in operation the box is given a swinging motion and the rubber is made to swing through the chamber of the box, so as to traverse the active surfaces of the rubbing-boards. The swinging motion given to the suds-box serves to agitate the water, so that it is caused to flush through the fabrics, and said fabrics are thus subjected to the cleansing action of a moving body of water and to the squeezing and rubbing mechanical force exerted by the operation of the rollers as they traverse the fabrics and the rubbing-boards.

The suds-box may be held in a stationary position by means of a locking-spindle 36,

which is mounted in suitable bearings 37 and is provided with an angular arm 38, the latter being adapted to fit into a notch 39 in the keeper 40, which is fastened to the'sudsbox.

It will be noted that the rubber and the suds-box are pivoted individually in the supporting-frame, that the pivot of the rubber is above the pivot of the suds-box, so that the rubber will swing in an are which is eccentric to the path of the suds-box, and that the motion of the suds-box is communicated by the links to the rubber, thus actuating the rubber to make it travel across the rubbingsurface of the suds-box.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. A washing-machine, comprising a suitable supporting-frame, a pivoted suds-box, a pivotal shaft supported in stationary bearings on said suds-box, a rubber pivoted in the supporting-frame above the pivots of said box, and links connecting the pivoted rubber with the pivotal shaft on the suds-box.

2. A washing-machine, comprising a supporting-frame, having the slotted bearings at its upper portion, a suds-box pivotally supported in said frame at points below said bearings thereof, a rubber having the arms provided with the fulcrum-shaft and the connecting-rod, said fulcrum-shaft being removably mounted in the slotted bearings of the supporting-frame, another shaft mounted in stationary hearings on an end portion of the suds-box, and connecting arms or links between the last-mentioned shaft and the connecting-rod at the upper ends of the rubberarms.

3. A washing-machine having a frame, a suds-box pivoted thereto, means for swinging said suds-box, a rubber pivoted to the frame .in eccentric relation and independently of the suds-box and adapted to swing in an arc eccentric to the path of said suds-box, and links pivoted to the rubber and to the sudsbox and communicating the motion of the latter to said rubber.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE THOMAS.

Witnesses:

L. W. 2001;, J. M. HART. 

